University of Minnesota Athletics
Men's Gymnastics Squad Earns NCAA Championships Berth
4/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
The University of Minnesota men’s gymnastics team has been selected to compete at the 2008 National Collegiate Men’s Gymnastics Championships, the NCAA selection committee announced Tuesday afternoon.
The 66th Annual National Collegiate Men’s Gymnastics Championships will take place April 17-19 at Stanford University’s Maples Pavilion, beginning with Thursday’s national qualifier. The national qualifier consists of two sessions, with the top three teams in each session advancing to the NCAA team finals on Friday, April 18.
The eighth-ranked Golden Gophers will compete in the 7 p.m. (PDT)/9 p.m. (CDT) evening qualifying session. Minnesota joins Big Ten rivals No. 5 Illinois and No. 9 Iowa as well as No. 1 Stanford, No. 4 California and No. 13 Temple in the hunt for a berth in the team finals.
“I’m thrilled that our team has been selected to compete at the NCAA qualifier next week,” Minnesota head coach Mike Burns said. “This is the first step in our goal to reach the NCAA team finals and challenge the nation’s best teams for the top spot on the awards stand. We will be doing battle against some of the best teams in the nation in our qualifying round. Stanford, Cal, and Illinois will be our stiffest competition but you can’t overlook Iowa or Temple who will also be competing in our session.”
The 1 p.m. (PDT)/3 p.m. (CDT) afternoon session will feature No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Penn State, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 10 Nebraska and No. 11 William & Mary.
In addition to the six teams that advance to team finals, the top three all-around competitors not on one of the qualifying teams, plus the top three individuals on each event not already qualified on a team or as an all-around competitor, will advance from each qualifying session to the individual event finals, which will take place on Saturday night at 7 p.m. (PDT)/9 p.m. (CDT).
“In order for us to advance to the team finals we will need to bring our A-game to Maples Pavilion next Thursday,” Burns added. “If we can do that I believe we can ride a wave of peak performances to a top-three finish in our session and a berth in the team finals on Friday night.”
Minnesota finished in sixth place at the 2007 National Collegiate Championships with four gymnasts earning All-America citations, including current Gophers Kit Beikmann (pommel horse), Adam Reichow (floor exercise, vault) and Cole Storer (floor exercise).
Players Mentioned
